Bananas used to be a lot more difficult to eat than they are now. The seeds were huge and plentiful, and ran throughout the flesh of the fruit, which itself was starchier, stringier, and less sweet.

Other foods were similarly obtuse. Watermelons, for example — instead of having contiguous pink flesh throughout, the good part was hiding in small, seed-riddled segments divided by thick white rind. Pre-modern corn was much smaller, and the kernels had tough outer shells. Meat would be tough and sinewy, and you might have to enter mortal combat in order to get it.

Basically, everything used to be like a pomegranate, at least figuratively: full of rinds and membranes and hard bits, requiring some work to get at the good stuff. Not by coincidence, chronic overeating was rare.

I was thinking about this as I drove home from the gym the other day, just before lunchtime. There’s a McDonalds on my route, and it’s basically the inverse of a pomegranate — getting to the goods has been made as easy as possible. There’s a wide, funnel-like approach coming from the street, inviting even the largest vehicle to enter easily. Arrows direct you into either of two parallel drive-thru lanes, so the line is usually only a car or two long. At this point all you have to do is say “Bring me a cheeseburger!” and they say “Yes, at once!” Then you advance down the one-way funnel and someone literally puts the burger into your hand. You touch your card to some electronic thing and unseen computers settle the monetary side of the transaction.